Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

Although the participants were not aware of the consequences, the protectionist views expressed clash with ASEAN trade policies and WTO. Whilst the participants were keen that Cambodia should enjoy trade privileges for export, they wished to restrict food imports and curb free trade agreements in the interests of producers. The consequences for consumers paying higher prices were not considered in the discussion. Protectionist policies supporting farmers are popular whilst there is a large proportion of the population involved in farming. However the trade off lies in the effects on other sect... Read moreors, on consumers and on international relations. Read less

Q2. WHAT ACTIONS WILL ALLOW US TO REACH OUR VISION Encourage chemical free, healthy, nutritious, local product; Joint efforts by all stakeholders to achieve the vision and to spread these messages. Mainstream maternal, infant and young children’s needs for food as part of food systems for healthy diets in all circumstances. Government has a key role. Government action is needed to ensure existing laws and standards are enforced and people are made aware of these standards and rules. Importers who are bringing in contaminated foods or time expired food should be punished. Review gaps of exist... Read moreing laws and close the loopholes. Identify if any new regulations and laws on foods are required. Establish a government body to build sustainability and systematically conduct quality assurance, monitoring and control of foods and production at all stages, from farm to table. Government actions required to educate farmers and share information to help them diversify production and to reach markets. Agriculture should be included in education so that there is wider understanding of the issues for the population. NGOs can also help to educate the next generation of producers. Build capacity of provincial, district and commune government agricultural extension workers to deliver quality services to the community, by taking food systems for healthy diets as a central point of agricultural activities. Make a law for controlling imported food from neighboring countries and take the law seriously by inspecting all imports. If people can access cheap imported food they will do so. To promote local produce the Government should introduce tariffs or quotas to limit access for foreign food. Be selective so that some imports are allowed to keep balanced relations with neighbors. Bring the price of exports up so that local produce is preferred. Promote value chains by supporting farmers cooperatives and small business clusters and make linkages between producers, sellers and traders. Provide subsidies for producers to improve food quality and nutritious produce. Employ good agricultural practices through government extension services using improved agricultural technologies. Develop a strategy for responding to climate change and resilience to shocks and disasters to ensure food security at all times. Strengthen the focus on small scale processors and use simple practical guidelines appropriate for them. Expand engagement with the private sector for quality food processing and healthy snack food production in response to the growing need of the population at all age groups. Ensure adequate resources, especially better agricultural inputs, such quality vegetable seeds, fertilizers, fish seeds, and irrigation facilities and systems to optimize production. Work with media outlets to intensify public awareness and conduct SBCC activities for food systems and healthy diets. Education and behaviour change regarding food habits. For long term sustainability of the food system, food system for healthy diets should be mainstreamed in the national school curriculum. Youth can raise their voices to spread information about the importance of good nutrition and use social media. Host public forums at national and sub-national level to discuss the importance of food systems for healthy diets, and how systems can be strengthened. Educate people about the importance of local production and to encourage purchase of chemical free produce. Target all populations, with more emphasis on women, the elderly, young children, people with disabilities and youth. Read less

Topic 1: What is your vision of a sustainable food systems for Cambodia in 2030? Ensure food security for all Cambodian citizens, ensuring that local markets and local demands are met by local supply. Producing enough food to eat and adequate nutrition for the population, without relying on imports. Food is locally produced, following local and cultural practices, and in a sustainable way. People learn how to eat healthy food and the right amount of food. Eating the right amount of food reduces food waste and keeps people healthy. Healthy diets will be included in the school curriculum, especi... Read moreally for young children so they will learn about healthy diets and food systems from a young age. People will continue to raise their own animals and grow their own crops. Farmers are the front line of our food systems, so policy and innovation should benefit their wellbeing. All farmers are affected by climate change and will need support from the government to develop resilience. Improve agricultural production to produce at better standards, improved products and safer and more nutritious food. Protect Cambodian food exports Promote innovation and improved standards for food systems in Cambodia. There should be a chemical free environment for the food system in Cambodia so people can trust food safety. This should be supported by an effective system of Quality Assurance. By 2030, people should be eating more healthy food instead of fast food and junk food. All the food categories (food groups) should be readily available and accessible through markets. Innovation will be an important element of the sustainable food system. Read less

The vision is that the food system will provide food security for all Cambodian citizens, ensuring that local markets and local demands are met by local supply. Producing enough food to eat and adequate nutrition for the population, without relying on imports. Food is should be locally produced, following local and cultural practices, and in a sustainable way. People will learn how to eat healthy food and the right amount of food thereby reducing food waste and keeping people healthy. Encourage chemical free, healthy, nutritious, local product by using the efforts of all stakeholders to achiev... Read moree this vision and to spread these messages. Youth can raise their voices to spread information about the importance of good nutrition and make good use of social media to do so. Mainstream maternal, infant and young children’s needs for food as part of food systems for healthy diets in all circumstances. Target all populations, with more emphasis on women, the elderly, young children, people with disabilities and youth. Read less

The focus of this youth dialogue was on the same topics as the first engagement event, which were on elaborating a vision for sustainable food systems in Cambodia in 2030 and identifying actions and levers for moving towards the vision.

1. At the core of a lot of divergences is that some stakeholders prefer processes that rely on individual/household level change (demand side actions), while others prefer processes that rely on institutional change (supply-side actions). Both types of actions are necessary. There is a need for institutional actions, such as regulation of the food environment, but there is also a need for individual change that would make consumers demand a better food environment. To manage divergence, there is a need to broker disagreements so that each side accepts that other arguments are valid. It is nece... Read moressary to ensure that each side will get at least some of their concerns addressed. How do we build resilience around insecurity – need to do a deep dive to find out the root causes and address 2. Reduction of fiscal space: this requires a rational prioritisation of measures within food systems reform that are more likely to succeed in tackling inequality in livelihoods, as well as manging competing priorities beyond food systems that can have the biggest impact on GoN strategy priorities within its various economic and development plans. 3. Lobbying and interference by special interests: to achieve an equitable access to affordable healthy diets, the Government of Nigeria will have to commit to strongly reduce the influence of interest groups within the food systems, such as Big Food multinationals and local industries that have near-oligopolist footprint in food systems. Only with an open market focused on what people really need, rather than what food companies what consumers to buy, there can be a shift to better eating and more affordable health foods. 4. Social norms are difficult to change as a section of society may have vested interests or incentives to ensure that the balances of power (elites vs. poor, men vs. women, urban vs. rural) do not change. Hence the need for deliberate approaches to enforce policies for redistribution and social norm change, especially for the benefit of women and the youth. 5. The assumption that youths would want to work in agriculture or agro-processing / food manufacturing needs to be assessed by asking the question of “what the youth want”: any job? Urban jobs? Safe white-collar jobs? Well-paid jobs? – the assumption that a large proportion of youth is ready to be employed in low-paying, low-tech industries might be misplaced, and the answer to these questions can drive youth and demographic transition policy design. 6. Need to ensure that innovation and technology transfer is fair: “for the common market and the common man”, and not just for businesses and entrepreneurs with the right relations and networks. 7. Stakeholders working in silos - Various organisations have different foci, interests and commitments which sometimes create variances that may hinder collective actions to shift to healthy and sustainable diet and food consumption patterns in Nigeria. This calls for intentional efforts for synergy and coordination of partnerships to reduce overlaps and to help operationalise and coordinate the food system and nutrition in Nigeria. The question then is - who should drive Food systems coordination in Nigeria? As the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning currently coordinates food and nutrition at the national level, there should be drives for food systems capacity strengthening; partners can second food systems experts for technical support. In addition, the role of the SUN movement multi-stakeholder platform can be explored in the coordination of food systems dialogues. The SUN platform can be relevant regarding private sector engagement, which needs to be streamlined and more profitably engaged. It is also suggested that the Governance structure of the National Food and Nutrition policy should be fully operationalised particularly considering the State and LGA levels, as well as the diversity of sectors involved. 8. Preponderant national emphasis on undernutrition: The longstanding emphasis on undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies may lead to a push-back when the issue of shift towards healthy diets is put forward and overnutrition with non-communicable diseases rise to the front burner. In framing discussions on healthy and sustainable food systems, the focus on the role of diet in the control of NCDs is important regarding reformulating products to reduce trans fats, salts, and sugars. This way, the food system approach will target the double burden rather than focus on undernutrition and micronutrient deficiency 9. Trust deficits: Observed trust deficit among various groups (e.g. government and civil society, government and private sector, etc) may also be a hindrance, and should therefore be addressed. Read less

Group 5: Building the Resilience of Food Systems in Nigeria to withstand Vulnerabilities, Shocks and Stresses Actions urgently needed for Improved Food availability for resilience a. Put in place structures (such as silos, warehouses, cottage processing facilities, cold chain logistics) to reduce post-harvest losses in order to have increased food reserve that is safe and nutritious. b. Supply of /improve access to quality agricultural inputs to farmers in a timely manner c. Implement the National Agricultural Resilience Framework and Strategy Document d. Improve key agricultural practices to ... Read morehave all year-round production by having a robust dry season farming/irrigation e. Observation that the Nigerian agricultural sector is quite resilient given its performance during the 2016 and 2020 economic recessions the country experienced. So, the 2 aspects that are challenging now are insecurity and environmental stresses. Need for local solutions. So, Empower/build the capacity of local communities/institutions to be able to address some of the challenges especially security and environmental issues that are militating against agricultural production. f. Engage in environmental extension services with a clear approach to control the norm in the society as against the traditional agricultural extension g. Evaluate or audit interventions that have been done especially those on smart agricultural practices on in the time past and do a modelling of impact and strategize on the way forward h. Improvement in the traditional food systems and indigenous foods to build resilience which have been used by the communities to navigate and cope with shocks i. Employ the services of security men to also check the menace of banditry, kidnaping and farmers/herders’ conflicts. j. Promote access to funds by young and women farmers to increase productivity and also build household food and nutrition security k. Review, update and implement the Nigeria population policy to address the population growth and align with rate of food production to reduce gap as well as proportion of hungry people in Nigeria l. Multisectoral coordination of the Nigeria food system with one plan and one monetary framework by the MB&NP to bring all stakeholders to one table Who should take the actions? • Academia to assist by conducting demand driven researches that will promote resilience • Government to invest more on research activities in various higher institutions of learning, collate research findings that can help in building resilience. ARCN to take the lead • FMARD to lead the key stakeholders in the private, non-governmental and development sectors to review the existing National Agricultural Resilience strategy documents to include the emerging issues of resilience and also ensure their implementation • Use of multi-sectoral approach to achieve sustainable food systems that is inclusive and sustainable to be led by MB&NP Ways in which progress could be assessed • Proportion of households using ecological food production techniques. • Number of soil conservation projects implemented • Records of quantity of food produced within community per season/cycle • Existing cooperatives, available rural credits, and producers with access to credits Read less

Group 4: Advancing Equitable Livelihoods in Nigeria Actions urgently needed 1. Deliberate efforts to improve technology uptake in agriculture with a focus on access by vulnerable people and the poor, creating opportunities for technology transfers: • mechanization, improved seeds/crops, alternative pest control and yield enhancing techniques • Digital inclusion to enhance market intelligence penetration in rural communities (prices, demand); • Use technology to promote food safety e.g., Aflasafe uptake 2. Ensure viable links to market networks for smallholder farmers, especially youth an... Read mored women. 3. Address key systemic issue that mostly affect women, such as • Boost irrigation through climate-friendly technologies, e.g., such micro-irrigation to allow year-round production based on demand rather than seasons, while avoiding water depletion • Adequate food storage infrastructure to address waste and post-harvest losses. • Ensure access to credit and land, including tackling social and legal norms especially in areas where women choices on income and land tenure are restricted • Generate knowledge on reduction of post-harvest losses and crop diversification and ensure deployment of female agricultural extension workers to enable bespoke advice and improved relations with women farmers. • Longer-term, develop a coordinated, multi-stakeholder agenda for social inclusion to address gender imbalances in food production, commercialization, and access. 4. Address key systemic issues affecting youth. Some of them can be tackled with similar actions as for women. Other specific actions are: • Enable a financial protection framework for youth, including insurance for crop loss. • Adequate access to financing to support adequate land beyond subsistence farming and adequate technologies for viable yields and quick returns. • Improve options for vocational and agronomy / agro-processing studies. 5. Push a deliberate implementation of the multisectoral nutrition and food safety policy to boost food and nutrition security and healthy diets. This may include specific tools to protect the most vulnerable: • Tax waivers / subsidies for healthy foods, given that the poor are those who cannot afford healthy diets. • Taxes and other normative actions to reduce consumption of unhealthy products, e.g., sugar taxes, labeling, communication on the impact breastmilk substitutes tailored to poor and people with limited literacy. 6. Dietary /nutrition- food safety principles/ eating nutritious food deliberate policy. Research should not be only driven by demand, but also have the goal of ending poverty, such as shifting research priority from cash crops and export-driven staple foods to marginalized crops that are often more climate adaptive. Who should take the actions? All actors are involved: government leading, but also academia, technical agencies, private sector and the international community (through technical and financial assistance but also a more coherent approach to international food trade). Ways in which progress could be assessed • Proportion of youth in food and agricultural jobs. • Demonstrable change in access by women to credit, land, and technologies. • Demonstrable policy change around consumer protection, food safety and healthy diets promotion, including evidence of bespoke fiscal and labeling policies • Demonstrable infrastructural investments and budget allocations form climate-smart agriculture and food processing reform • Longer-term: verifiable changes in consumption patterns and uptake of healthy diets. Read less

Group 3: Global Food System at Crossroads: Policy Landscape and Governance Factor for Boosting Nature Positive Production at Scale in Nigeria: The Right to Food Approach Actions urgently needed 1. Reorientation and refocusing of the philosophical approach ▪ Philosophical framework – (Right to food - Food as a fundamental human right in Nigeria) 2. Enhancing sustainability of planetary nature ▪ Policy framework – National Food and Nutrition Policy ▪ Sustainability Framework (National System for Food and Nutrition Security NSFNS) 3. Building Resilience of Nigeria’s food system ▪ Re... Read moresilience framework (National Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security Resilience Framework NSFNSRF) 4. Develop Policy/framework for Organic Agriculture ▪ There is need to popularise Organic Agriculture because it reduces exposure to harmful chemicals, facilitates healthy soil formation, combats the effect of Global Warming etc Issues raised during discussion • Huge investment and awareness in biotechnology are needed to boost, sustain, and protect agriculture- The use of biotechnology to develop crops that are climate smart (Develop seeds that are resistant thus reducing the use of chemicals thus protecting and sustaining the ecosystem). Biotechnology can also be used to produce Functional foods (fortified) • Use of technology to mitigate environmental effects of agriculture production. • The need to have a framework supporting the ecological market (Carbon Market). • Family farming is not promoted in Nigeria. The family farming concept is good in supporting sustainable agriculture. • Urban Food Production and systems. This would help the youths • R&D and extension system. Farmer led research (demand driven) bottom-up participatory approach in research and extension. • The importance of value chain in the food system. • The capacity to add value across priority value chains is needed for the development of the food system. • Establish regional food industrial raw materials hub in Nigeria. This should be private sector driven. • Water policy. Improve the State of water asset and optimize the water asset for agriculture, portable water, and power. • Integrated agriculture would also help water management and protect the ecosystem e.g., crops and livestock Who should take the actions? • Making available improved high yielding, pest resistance and climate smart seedling as well as nutritionally enhanced seedlings – Federal & States’ Ministries of Agriculture, Research Institutes, National Seed Council, Private seed marketing firms • Resuscitating the agriculture extension services – Federal and State governments • Agricultural Policy consistency – Federal Government & Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (FMARD) • Promote policy in organic and ecosystem farming – (FMARD) • Policy advocacy, policy brokerage and policy action research on the actionable proposals during implementation (Farm and Infrastructure Foundation-FIF) Ways in which progress could be assessed Through monitoring and Key performance indicators using timeline and regular interactive meetings with all the key Stakeholders • Proportion of farmers that adopted and planted improved variety of seeds or inputs • Number of states that has revived Agricultural extension services • Number of states with functional and funded Agricultural extension services • Proportion of farmers or and farming entities that adopted and are practicing organic and eco-friendly agriculture. Read less

Group 2: Shift to Healthy and Sustainable Consumption Patterns Actions urgently needed 1. Policy redirection and strategies to involve youth in urban agriculture e.g., use of technology such as e-commerce within the value-chains. 2. Innovative agricultural practices such as urban farming, which are climate friendly, reduce food loss due to proximity of farms to consumers and will improve nutrition security by retaining the quality of food produce especially fruits and vegetables using hydroponics, aquaponics, vertical farming etc. 3. Create awareness and communicate with policy makers about fo... Read moreod systems: translating data and available information into materials for effective engagement of policy makers as well as at community level, media, and society. Employing next generation /life cycle approach by building healthy and sustainable diet into the school curriculum. 4. Health sector priority: Investments in Primary Health Care has great potential for engaging gatekeepers, traditional rulers, community actors, mothers, and children in the shift towards healthy consumption. 5. Product formulation: Nutrition considerations must be embraced much more by industry and food processors. There is also the need for a common set of country guidelines for nutrition that will be useful for consumer protection. 6. Coordination: It is necessary to advance a joint work plan and implementation strategy especially for cross-cutting activities that can drive this shift that we desire to see. 7. Data generation and management: Improving data generation, management and integration into policy-decision making will aid the functionality of Country Nutrition Programming. Who should take the actions? • Technoserve: experienced and has vast capacity in value chain development for entrepreneurship and nutrition and making value chains more nutrition sensitive. • Choices International: for technical support in developing nutrition guidelines/standards for processed foods and front-of-pack labelling. • Sustainable Development Goals Talks initiative: awareness creation especially for the youth through various media such as photos, online messages, and content. • FAO: promoting school gardening to engage pupils and students as agents of change in the community. The programme also teaches other skills, including entrepreneurial skills, marketing skills, and equipping learners to contribute positively to the economy as adults. • Scaling-up Nutrition in Nigeria: CS-SUNN already works with youth leaders recognized by the SUN Global Movement and supported by SCI. The organisation can therefore use this platform to reach out to the youths. • Universities and research institutes: For research and training. Some have mandates for improving the value chain for most of Nigerian staples and food crops. The results need to be curated and harvested for more productive use. Ways in which progress could be assessed • Reduction in stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, NCDs • Number of people reached with information • Reduction in food waste, number of innovative drives in reducing food waste • Reduction in post-harvest losses. • Increased discourse and formal dialogues in food systems in Nigeria • Increased investments in food systems innovations, especially cold chain infrastructure • Number of policies that encourage consumption of healthy diet • Consumers demanding more of healthier food products. . Increased number of youth entrepreneurs . Increased number of front pack labelling . The number of family life extension programs into agricultural extension scheme. Read less

Group 1: Poor people are able to eat nutritious foods that will not make them sick Actions urgently needed Strand 1: Reducing hunger and inequality • Provision of vouchers that can be exchanged for food at decentralized levels (e.g., LGA level or through religious centres) • Increasing food production and reduction of postharvest losses • Involving the private sector to address hunger in their immediate communities and in the workplace. • Use public hospitals as a delivery platform for reaching the poor with food within the catchment areas of such facilities • Public works programmes... Read more to enable the poor earn cash for food. • Increasing purchasing power of the poor by increasing access to credit through schemes such as TraderMoni Strand 2: Increasing availability and affordability of nutritious foods • Scaling-up household processing methods that reduce food loss and waste • Scaling-up food demonstration sessions in health facilities • Expand the availability and consumption of biofortified crops • Increase the production and consumption of neglected indigenous foods • Promotion of aquaculture among women and youth • Food fortification • Genetically modified foods to address reduced productivity and yields due to land ageing Strand 3: Ensuring safe food • Pass the Food Safety Bill and legislate food safety • Provision of portable water in markets and other public facilities. • Increased focus on market sanitation to ensure that markets are clean, including paving of vending areas so that food is not displayed on muddy ground. • Regulation of street food vendors and restaurants • Greater regulation of ingredients in industrially produced foods • Developing guidelines for food safety that would be widely disseminated, and getting consumers to demand safer food. Cross-Cutting • Public education around production of safe foods, including responsible use of agro-chemicals; as well as nutrition education to promote adequate consumption of nutritious foods, including promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and enforcement of the code on marketing of breast milk substitute • Homestead food production addresses all three strands. Home gardens can prioritize nutritious foods (track 2). Growing one’s food ensures safety from contamination with agro-chemicals. • Ensuring nutrition-sensitive and food safety conscious social protection programmes • Development of food based dietary guidelines • Reduce the layers of personnel and bureaucracy involved in public policy implementation and increase the ease of compliance with guidelines • Increase modern biotechnology research, financing for the food sector, including financing of SMEs • Establish credible and integrated data base for detailed food systems information • Establish clusters of SMEs to foster business-to-business partnerships • Establish a Food Systems Bill to provide legal framework for strengthening food security and nutrition programmes Who should take the actions? • Food industry actors need to develop products that can improve nutrition of the base of the populat • Private sector to address hunger in their immediate communities and in the workplace. • Health facilities will provide nutrition education • Governments at all levels should implement food for public works program Ways in which progress could be assessed • Improved quality at input level of food production, including training and extension services. • Quality standards defined for all raw materials. . Good manufacturing practices . Strong M&E framework established . Availability of a communication system Read less